Carlton Davis Is No. 11
February 9th, 2022
Bucs CB Carlton Davis.
So the Bucs have a bunch of free agents. Most of the big names are on the offensive side of the ball.
On defense, Joe thinks the biggest name is Carlton Davis. And so too does Kevin Siefert of BSPN. The NFL columnist recently ranked all free agent cornerbacks. Of course, the free agency dinner bell rings on March 16. That’s five weeks from today.
Seifert has Davis as the top-ranked corner scheduled to hit the market, provided Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht doesn’t re-sign him.
11. Carlton Davis, CB
2021 team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Age entering 2022 season: 25A quadriceps injury limited Davis to 10 regular-season games in 2021, but he would be one of the most attractive cornerbacks on the market if he gets that far. You would think the Buccaneers would at least consider the franchise tag for him, though. He has 48 passes defended over the past three seasons, along with six interceptions.
Joe understands some Bucs fans don’t think Davis is that good. Well, Joe will ask a simple question: How was that Bucs’ secondary without him? It wasn’t very good, was it? That should tell you how much Davis means to the team.
Joe will put it another way: The best cornerback on a Super Bowl winner is no slouch, especially when you stop a quarterback to win that Super Bowl by the name of Pat Mahomes.
Joe would hate if the Bucs penny-pinch Davis and let him fly the nest. The last time the Bucs gave up on an accomplished young corner he turned into one of the league’s best, Aqib Talib.
If Davis gets to the open market, Joe is concerned there will be a bidding war for him that will price the Bucs out of the running.
February 9th, 2022 at 12:17 am
He is better than the crapshoot of trying to find another one. DBs are shaky things to draft, keep him.
February 9th, 2022 at 12:18 am
Godwin, Jensen, & Davis are the top 3 most important re-signs.
He’s a top 8 CB in the nfl and only 25. Lock him up
February 9th, 2022 at 12:31 am
If it’s a question of affordability against priority…. The Bucs weren’t really very good with him either due to injuries to the others.
In this I trust Licht.
February 9th, 2022 at 1:06 am
Tough call. Just because he’d be in the top available doesn’t make him worth top of the market. But Joe’s right. A bidding war could get ugly. I bet Jason Licht is one busy dude right now.
February 9th, 2022 at 1:45 am
Get rid
February 9th, 2022 at 2:01 am
On the fence on Davis. JC Jackson and Stephon Gilmore are also available, and so are others.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:05 am
To those who say let him go, I ask what the plan is… Can you find a better CB in free agency for the same or less money? Do you actually believe a rookie drafted CB could come in and outperform Davis? Or are you simply willing to let the defense decline, because absent a quality #1 corner, the defense will fall apart. So, think before you make ignorant pronouncements.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:39 am
Soooo for some reason from BSPN and joe believes Davis is better than Gilmore, donte Jackson from Carolina and jc Jackson??? Man y’all done lost y’all mind even Joe on this one — C’mon, dude. –Joe https://www.joebucsfan.com/2022/02/a-10-million-value/
but this is the same guy (@joebucsfan) who thought “Dean” was a good cornerback so I’m not surprised lol i still love ya Joe but sometimes you be reaching man…
Dean is a good cornerback. Great? No. Certainly good for a third-year, third-round pick. –Joe.
also to make a better point if any defense loses a starting cornerback the secondary will automatically be worse than before lol it’s common sense, i like Davis but let’s not overpay for a at best a grade B cornerback please, i believe we can get the same production out of acouple more solid vet dbs via FA or maybe find acouple gems out of the draft…” in Licht we trust” right or is that just convenient to say whenever we doubt our judgment on talent, #GOBUCS
February 9th, 2022 at 2:41 am
Just saw the video of the guy that Kamara beat-up, if it’s true (and police say they have already reviewed the video footage of Karama repeatedly punching the guy), then Kamara is getting more than suspended from the NFL, he’s doing prison time.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:47 am
The bucs can’t afford to pay Davis top-10 CB money this year AND keep Dean and SMB next year, both of whom should command top-20 CB money.
Yeah Davis is good, but does he want to be paid like he’s great (top 3-5)? I’d try to keep him but only to a point.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:52 am
CD is a very good cover corner, he just isn’t as fast as Tyreek Hill. If ANYone on the team is gonna cover their best receiver one on one, you want it to be him. If I had to choose between him and Jensen, it’s CD all day. Absent Brady, the priority on keeping Jensen drops dramatically. We have an adequate replacement
February 9th, 2022 at 3:39 am
Lol Leighroy
U mean Dean and SMB are better bc they SUCK. BOTH OF THEM
February 9th, 2022 at 3:52 am
I just watched a clip of Clyde Christensen talking Trask and Brady, taped after last year’s OTAs. He spoke of Trask being built up from nothing, having tons of new things to learn, “swimming”, but “an accurate passer” who will be a fun guy— in the future.
But regarding Brady. The subject was TBV12’s “sociopathic” work ethic and obsessive regimen. Being hung over on vacation, and going out to practice the next morning. Calling Christensen the morning after winning the SB and talking about how the team could still be better, and how fired up he was about that.
Fast forward to now. One year later, the man with a “sociopathic” love of the game and daily practice gave it all up.
February 9th, 2022 at 5:10 am
I agree with Sasquatch’s thoughts — well written. It’s like when everyone wants to fire the college football coach today, but has no idea who’s available to hire that would be better, with a system that fits the players you have and your school can afford.
You need to think several years in advance on D, on O, for starters, for quality depth and on special teams — not just this player is good so we should pay him. JL has said before they are looking a few years ahead at draft classes to identify potential strong and weak position groups. They look ahead at potential FAs from other teams. Most importantly they look internally a few years ahead to determine who they may keep or not based on performance and salary cap. This is a true balancing act and this process is constantly updated by JL’s team of scouts, player personnel and capologists. Not an easy thing to do this year as the Bucs are beginning to back themselves into a corner with the cap.
February 9th, 2022 at 5:30 am
Like any weekend GM, here are my thoughts:
D-Line needs to get younger = less expensive
JPP hopefully retires or we can’t re-sign him; getting old and injured every year in the last 3. Draft a DE in the first rd.
Suh is getting older, Gholston is expensive for a backup and McClendon will retire. Try to keep Suh for one more year only if it can be done at a reasonable price. If not, keep Gholston. Find a low cost veteran FA to replace McClendon. Draft a DT in the 2nd round.
LVD is getting older. Need to consider his replacement in 22 or more likely high in the 23 Draft. Need to also look at FAs and updrafted players or 7th rd to replace Minter if he departs.
Re-sign Whiehead. He, Edwards and Winfield are you long-term Safeties.
Keep Davis at CB. But do you re-sign him or use the transition tag? Next year Dean, SMB and Davis would all come up as FAs and you probably can only keep 2 of them.. initial thought is to let SMB go at that time. Draft a CB in rd 4. Keep Adam’s phone # handy.
February 9th, 2022 at 5:39 am
My weekend thoughts on the special teams:
We need a new coach, should have called isaih and made him an assistant coach as part of the deal. Always good to have former head coaches on the staff.
Need to keep both Pinion and Succop due to the dead cap hit. Need strong competition for both in training camp and to “put them on notice”.
Re-sign LS Zach Triner.
Can Pat O’Conner replace McClendan on the DLine along with continuing on special teams?
Who’s replacing Justin Watson on ST? Look for an undrafted player.
February 9th, 2022 at 6:07 am
My weekend GM thoughts on the offense:
Re-sign Gabbert and let him and Trask battle it out in training camp..Can’t afford anything else and we need to see what we have in Trask. 50/50 reps with the first team. Also look for potential blockbuster deal to fall to us (Russell Wilson? Kyle Murray? DeShawn Watson if legal problems are resolved?) Need to think across 3 years for trading picks to lessen the impact. Could we make picks conditional to Texas based on Watson’s legal status?
Resign Godwin. Period. Can Grayson replace AB? Need to honestly evaluate our WR depth. Still not sold on Miller and Johnson- lack of consistency. Pick a WR in the 3rd round.
Re-sign Fournette and Bernard. Rojo departs. Pick up a low cost 4th RB in FA. Need a strong running game with a weaker QB. Hell almost anyone will look weaker than TB12 at QB.
Can’t afford Jensen, Cappa, Stinnie and Wells. Leaning towards keeping Jensen (attitude) over Cappa as we can’t afford both. Same with Stinnie (younger) over Wells. May be able to keep him. Is Hainsey ready to be a starter at C or G? OLine in the 5th rd? Look at small schools as we’ve had good luck there with Marpet and Cappa.
Finally my toughest position tight end. Need strong TE room with a weaker QB. #1 is Gronk staying? Need him for at least one more year. Can we trade Brate and draft his replacement with the pick. He’s good, but too expensive. OJ is gone. Draft another TE in the 7th rd and look for undrafted TE or the cupboard could be bare in 1 or 2 years. May need to draft a TE on day 2 next year.
That leaves
February 9th, 2022 at 6:21 am
Davis is a really good corner, i dont get how there re a few voices that thing otherwise. Should be one of the priorities and we must keep him. Is he a top 5 CB ? Probably not but i think he is top 10. Resign him and stop the nonsense. He is far better than Dean and SMB. Players all over the league are paid top money and probably far more from what they deserve but that is the Free Agency. You cant always pay below market. I think top 10 money is more than fair.
February 9th, 2022 at 6:41 am
Davis isn’t even in Talib’s zip code when it comes to how talented that dude was. I just don’t think that it’s smart to pay above average players like good or even great players. Throw a second round tender on him and let some other sucker overpay if they think he’s worth that.
February 9th, 2022 at 7:26 am
Sign Gilmore in free agency and draft CB in 1st rd. CB position need to be upgraded
February 9th, 2022 at 7:27 am
Beej … ‘If I had to choose between him and Jensen, it’s CD all day.’
I’d agree with you Beej, BUT … that’s not the choice. Most likely you can re-sign Jensen for around $10 mil. It’ll most likely cost us about TWICE that to re-sign Davis.
So restate the question: ‘If you had to choose between re-signing Davis or re-signing Jensen ($10M), Fournette ($6M) AND signing a quality TE to replace Gronk ($4M), then which would you pick?’
Or maybe make a different choice: ‘If you had to choose between re-signing Davis or re-signing Whitehead ($7M), Suh ($8M) AND Gholston ($5M), then which would you pick?’
Or maybe the REAL choice: ‘If you had to choose between re-signing Davis or re-signing Godwin, who would you choose?’
Only point being that prioritization is critical because of salary CAP considerations. Davis CAN be replaced; every player can be … even Tom Brady. Carlton’s home-grown; I love the guy. IMO he’s our best corner. But his availability has sucked in reality (missed 14 games in his 4 seasons), and if he ends up on the IR list at $19-$20 mil per season, we’re screwed.
My preference is to re-sign Godwin (but stop using him in such a way that he gets beaten to death like we have been), and THEN draft a CB in Rnd 1 AND sign a quality CB in free agency for around $8-$10 mil (they really do exist BTW). Our CBs right now are too ‘fragile’ and it’s proven to be unrealistic to expect our backup CBs to play like starters.
February 9th, 2022 at 8:22 am
So…..we are going to spend big money on a top-tier qb to lure all of the offensive players back……..Lenny, Godwin, Gronk, Jensen, Cappa..
Then we are going to have plenty left over for Suh, JPP (if he recovers) and Davis…..
Sure….
As far as Jensen vs Davis….Licht will go with Davis….he drafted Davis….and he drafted Jensen’s replacement, Hainsey…..that’s a no brainer.
February 9th, 2022 at 9:06 am
@ DR
Agreed. I’ve been saying something similar regarding our FA situation.
Do you want C. Davis or Godwin?
We probably can’t do both…
I say re-sign Godwin let Davis walk. Sign a decent FA CB and draft another one in round #1…
February 9th, 2022 at 9:20 am
let them walk save the $ and rebuild for future. take a losing season for a few years
February 9th, 2022 at 10:47 am
Most Bucs fans wouldn’t know a good CB when they see one. They wanted to run Aqib Talib out of town as soon as he got here and he ended up having a borderline Hall of Fame career.
February 9th, 2022 at 11:38 am
I have a hard time believing any CB is worth as much as $10 million+ per year. But Davis is a good CB… although he is often injured.
CB’s are former wide receivers that were either too short, too slow or had bad hands to continue to play the position at higher levels.
I’d hate to lose Davis, but we only have so much money to go around. Maybe we get a hometown discount. If not . then draft one in the 4th and hope Pierre Desir improves.
February 9th, 2022 at 11:39 am
sorry…$19 Million +
February 9th, 2022 at 1:06 pm
Lenny is the the most important FA to sign. Davis would be next because he is a #1 corner. Franchise tag for the difficult player to lock up. Likely freeing up money from JPP, Howard, Brady, and Gronk. Suh, Jensen, and Godwin free up even more money if they move on. I am a fan of keeping Gholston- he stops the run and doesnt break the bank. It may be worthwhile bringing in a few more bodies for Bowles to tinker with. The pass defense wasnt good, but to me it looked like the pass rush did not get home enough.
February 9th, 2022 at 1:23 pm
What’s with the $20M talk?
Davis is roughly the 10th best CB in the league. Current market value for that level of CB play is around $12-14M per year.
Hopefully he wants to stay with the Bucs if they are fair with him contractually.
4 years – $52M would be fair to both sides I think